1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to material moving tools. More particularly, this invention relates to a hand-held grader specifically adapted to push, pull, smooth, scrape, and tamp material.
2. Description of Related Art
Hand-held tools for moving material were among the very first tools ever invented, and since those first tools, mankind has been continually adapting and improving them to meet various needs. As such, today's hand-held material moving tools have been specifically designed for particular needs and for particular materials such as earth, snow, mulch, gravel, and asphalt cold patch mix. For example, a shovel is shaped differently depending upon whether earth or snow is to be moved. Also, though shovels are well adapted at lifting material, shovels are not as effective tamping, pushing or pulling material.
Another example of a hand-held material moving tool is a hoe. A hoe is effective at pushing and pulling material, but is a narrow tool which cannot move much material at once. Moreover, a hoe is not well adapted for smoothing the material because the thin lower edge of the hoe tends to dig into the material.
A situation that illustrates how hand-held material moving tools have become so specialized is when earth has been removed to create a hole and the earth now has to be reintroduced into the hole. To most effectively move the earth into the hole, a tool such as a shovel or hoe needs to be used. Once the hole is filled, the earth needs to be tamped using a tamping tool. Finally, to smooth the earth around the hole, a smoothing tool is required. Thus, the simple job of filling the hole, tamping the earth, and then smoothing the earth requires three different tools.